Radio Ice Cream - We're Scoopin' Up The Grooves, Meltin' The Airwaves... Extra Cool, Extra Sweet!

   In 2007 a strange melodic jingling could be heard mingling with the static of shortwave pirate radio.  All of a sudden, out of the ionosphere, like a dream came a strange white ice cream truck rolling through the neighborhood all decked out with loud speakers and various HF antennae including several mobile verticals and a Yagi.  The Ice Cream Man, with a friendly smile would emerge from the dark of his ice cream truck to then hand out a tasty array of rock music of many genres from many decades, including heavy metal, hard rock, thrash, speed metal, psych rock, punk, post-punk, new wave, industrial, shoegaze, goth rock, death wave, cold wave, dark wave, glam rock, alternative and much, much more!  Guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth and your inner need to enjoy music overlooked by corporate FM radio.


The Show...

   Radio Ice Cream was a North American clandestine pirate shortwave (international world-band) radio broadcaster who would transmit half-hour to one-hour shows at random times of any given day or night, mostly on 6,925 kHz in both Single Side-Band (SSB) and Amplitude Modulation (AM) modes.  Each show would begin with an interstitial signal which was the sound of an ice cream truck driving around the neighborhood playing a tinny version of Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" along with the sound of dogs barking and happy children laughing.  The show was mainly hosted by a deep voiced older southern or African American sounding gentleman calling himself the Ice Cream Man.  There was also his disc jockey sidekick, a rendition of Kermit the Frog.

   The show consisted of an eclectic selection of genre-specific music as well as a few skits, clips from movies and some odd PSA's which were altered for comedic effect.  Throughout each show, and at the end, the Ice Cream Man or an announcer would ask listeners to send reception reports to P.O. box 1, Belfast, NY 14711 (in the United States.)  The show would then end with a another song or part of the actual Van Halen "Ice Cream Man" song and the Ice Cream Man would always say "Peace out brother!" ending the broadcast.

   Additionally, an "Extra Scoop Bonus Show" would be available after particular shows in order to keep the party going, as it were, playing more songs with a less-produced format.


The Reception...

   Radio Ice Cream was stated to have been created for the need to offer an on-air source for genres of music and associated songs that were, for the most part no longer played on corporate FM radio of the time, offering a 'treat' to the delight those who jammed out in the 1970s-1980s with their Walkmans or hi-fi systems in their bedrooms as teens, but the station was especially noted for its exceptional QSL listener reply mail-out cards.  "QSL" cards, just like with those in amateur radio, are generally sent between radio operators to tangibly verify contact with each other, are usually in the form of a post card and serve as a memento of the shortwave listener (SWL) catching the broadcast.  The extremely rare nature of some pirate radio broadcasts makes pirate QSL's quite sought after.

   Pirates generally send QSL cards through a 3rd-party "postal drop" to verify their listener's reported reception of their signals.  Generally, in return for details such as signal quality and the model of receiver, along with some friendly fan correspondence.  Pirate station's QSL cards are often unique, sometimes lavish appreciation gifts and often come with goodies, for instance, KIPM would send CDs of its shows along with a letter-sized full color surreal art pieces as the QSL, and Dr. Benway of Undercover Radio would send 'piratical' goodies including banners and stickers.  Radio Ice Cream sent some very notable QSL cards, one of which was highlighted in the clandestine radio section in (now defunct) Monitoring Times magazine.  One QSL card was in the shape of an ice cream cone with a vintage pin-up lady as the art, one, of a guy in a polar bear costume standing with Kermit and a blurred-out Ice Cream Man, and one card with a 1950s-type painting of an ice cream man handing out treats that were lit on fire to happy neighborhood patrons.  But perhaps, the coup d'état of all QSL cards to have ever been mailed was a graphical QSL card nestled inside an elaborately decorated folding card like an old photo album which was covered with glittery foil and puffy stickers.  CD's of the shows were also generally included.

   There was also an article in Popular Communications magazine (also defunct) where one of the authors, as part of a whole magazine pirate radio bonanza) used the lore behind Radio Ice Cream as an object lesson, writing about things such as an illicit transmitter hidden inside of the ice cream truck's deep freezer.


The Route...

   So far, as of this page's edit, there are known to have been at least a half-dozen or more half-hour and hour shows, each with its own flavor of rock genre and mostly appearing on the air waves during 2007-2009.  Repeats of the shows would be broadcast for years after and even as recently as 2023.  Additional shows have been also produced which were not apparently broadcasted and were delivered to listeners in CD format via QSL replies, however QSL cards and correspondence with the Ice Cream Man of any official capacity have not been reported (as to this editor's knowledge) for at least a decade and there is no knowledge on if that "custom tricked-out ice cream truck of the airwaves..." will be rolling through our neighborhoods in the future.

   The MP3 files available through Archive's player (above) are streamed at 192 kbs.  320 kbs quality MP3 files may be available in the panel on the right, but if you contact (the editor of this page) at the provided email link, a link to 320 kbs and even WAV files can be provided.


Rebroadcast...

   No doubt, in the 2010's and beyond, some of these shows were surely relayed by various separate shortwave pirate radio operators, as I was told.  I (this archive page editor) have no issues at all with anyone using the shows hosted here to be actually broadcasted on the international shortwaves or any local FM pirate station for that matter.  I can only assume this would obviously be encouraged by the Radio Ice Cream station operators, but I can take no responsibility for any broken laws dealing with unlicensed broadcasting and any consequential laws within any particular jurisdiction - as I am just a fandom media archivist.

   If you have any studio-quality CD's or decent MP3's provided by Radio Ice Cream that are not on this page, feel free to drop me a line (at associated email address).


   Please note that any copyrighted material integral to the programming of the pirate radio operator discussed is intended to be offered only in a historical context and incidental to the historical posterity of this particular pirate radio station.  If any claims are made against this posting, these files will be promptly removed.  Audio content on this page are exclusively intended for personal review, entertainment and appreciation of the pirate radio culture.  "Radio Ice Cream", as with many shortwave pirate radio operators were an illusive entity who appeared on the airwaves at unscheduled times from unknown locations considering the obvious legal risks, generally with poor-quality signals (on the receiver's end due to conditions), often buried in the static, and their existences were often fleeting.  Listeners were often very few in numbers and most recorded content (recorded from radio) only exist in a poor and often unintelligible state, subject to static, fading, garbled speech and all manner of degradation due to the station's signal path over thousands of miles.  Studio-quality audio offerings from shortwave radio pirates are very rare as they were complimentary for reception reports and a good argument can be made that they should be preserved for their cultural and transformative nature.

   Do not re-post or sell this audio material from this page.


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Radio Ice Cream Show Selections:


[Show 1]  (01)  Heavy Metal Thunder  -  1980's "hair band" music, rock and hard-rock

[Show 2]  (02)  Ride The Rock Rocket  -  1970's-80's classic rock, hard rock

[Show 3]  (03)  Thrashing Mad  -  Late 1980's thrash and speed metal

[Show 4]  (04)  Metal Mix-In  -  Classic metal and hard rock tunes mixed with classic rap/hip-hop, in an EDM dance style

[Show 5]  (05)  Psych-A-Rocky-Road  -  Late 1960's psychedelic rock

[Show 5X] (06)  Psych-A-Rocky-Road Extra Scoop Bonus Show  -  More psych rock

[Show 6]  (07)  Punk Ice  -  Late 1970's-early 80's punk rock

[Show 7]  (08)  Post-Punk & Pralines  -  Late 1970's-early 80's post-punk and hardcore

[Show 7X] (09)  Post-Punk & Pralines Extra Scoop Bonus Show  -  More post-punk and hardcore

[Show 8]  (10)  New Wave Ripple  -  Late 1970's-1980's new wave and new romantic

[Show 8X] (11)  New Wave Ripple Extra Scoop Bonus Show  -  Late 1970's-1980's new wave and new romantic

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